Lance Armstrong's demise: How an all-American hero fell to earth

By John Sinnott and Tom McGowan, CNN

Updated 2314 GMT (0714 HKT) February 22, 2013

Photos: Lance Armstrong's rise and fall28 photos

Lance Armstrong's rise and fall – After denying the allegations for years, cyclist Lance Armstrong admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs. As a result, he was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and an Olympic bronze medal. Click through the gallery for a look at his life and career.

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Photos: Lance Armstrong's rise and fall28 photos

Lance Armstrong's rise and fall – Armstrong, 17, competes in the Jeep Triathlon Grand Prix in 1988. He became a professional triathlete at age 16 and joined the U.S. National Cycling Team two years later.

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Photos: Lance Armstrong's rise and fall28 photos

Lance Armstrong's rise and fall – Armstrong wins the 18th stage of the Tour de France in 1995. He finished the race for the first time that year, ending in 36th place.

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Lance Armstrong's rise and fall – Armstrong rides at the Ikon Ride for the Roses to benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation in May 1998. He established the foundation to benefit cancer research after he was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1996. After treatment, he was declared cancer-free in February 1997.

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Photos: Lance Armstrong's rise and fall28 photos

Lance Armstrong's rise and fall – Armstrong leads his teammates during the final stage of the 1999 Tour de France.

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Lance Armstrong's rise and fall – Armstrong takes his honor lap on the Champs-Élysées in Paris after winning the Tour de France for the first time in 1999.

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Lance Armstrong's rise and fall – After winning the 2000 Tour de France, Armstrong holds his son Luke on his shoulders.

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Lance Armstrong's rise and fall – Armstrong rides during the 18th stage of the 2001 Tour de France. He won the tour that year for the third consecutive time.

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Lance Armstrong's rise and fall – Armstrong celebrates winning the 10th stage of the Tour de France in 2001.

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Lance Armstrong's rise and fall – After winning the 2001 Tour de France, Armstrong presents President George W. Bush with a U.S. Postal Service yellow jersey and a replica of the bike he used to win the race.

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Lance Armstrong's rise and fall – Armstrong celebrates on the podium after winning the Tour de France by 61 seconds in 2003.

Lance Armstrong's rise and fall – After his sixth consecutive Tour de France win, Armstrong attends a celebration in his honor in front of the Texas State Capitol in Austin.

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Lance Armstrong's rise and fall – Armstrong arrives at the 2005 American Music Awards in Los Angeles with then-fiancee Sheryl Crow. The couple never made it down the aisle, splitting up the following year.

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Lance Armstrong's rise and fall – Armstrong holds up a paper displaying the number seven at the start of the Tour de France in 2005. He went on to win his seventh consecutive Tour de France.

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Lance Armstrong's rise and fall – Armstrong testifies during a Senate hearing in 2008 on Capitol Hill. The hearing focused on finding a cure for cancer in the 21st century.

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Lance Armstrong's rise and fall – In 2009, Armstrong suffered a broken collarbone after falling during a race in Spain.

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Lance Armstrong's rise and fall – Young Armstrong fans write messages on the ground ahead of the 2009 Tour de France. He came in third place that year.

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Lance Armstrong's rise and fall – Armstrong launches the three-day Livestrong Global Cancer Summit in 2009 in Dublin, Ireland. The event was organized by his foundation.

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Lance Armstrong's rise and fall – In May 2010, Armstrong crashes during the Amgen Tour of California. That same day, he denied allegations of doping made by former teammate Floyd Landis.

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Lance Armstrong's rise and fall – Armstrong looks back as he rides during the 2010 Tour de France.

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Lance Armstrong's rise and fall – Armstrong's son Luke; his twin daughters, Isabelle and Grace; and his 1-year-old son, Max, stand outside the Radio Shack team bus on a rest day during the 2010 Tour de France.

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Lance Armstrong's rise and fall – Armstrong finished 23rd in the 2010 Tour de France. He announced his retirement from the world of professional cycling in February 2011. He said he wanted to devote more time to his family and the fight against cancer.

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Lance Armstrong's rise and fall – The frame of Armstrong's bike is engraved with the names of his four children at the time and the Spanish word for five, "cinco." His fifth child, Olivia, was born in October 2010.

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Lance Armstrong's rise and fall – Armstrong competes in the 70.3 Ironman Triathlon in Panama City, Florida, in February 2012. He went on to claim two Half Ironman triathlon titles by June of that year.

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Lance Armstrong's rise and fall – Armstrong addresses participants at the Livestrong Challenge Ride on October 21, 2012, days after he stepped down as chairman of his Livestrong cancer charity.

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Lance Armstrong's rise and fall – International Cycling Union President Pat McQuaid announces the decision to strip Armstrong of his seven Tour de France wins and ban him from the tournament for life on October 22, 2012. "Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling," he said.

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Lance Armstrong's rise and fall – In January 2013, Armstrong speaks with Oprah Winfrey about the controversy surrounding his cycling career. He admitted, unequivocally and for the first time, that he used performance-enhancing drugs while competing.

Story highlights

American accused of systematic drug use by United States Anti-Doping Agency

Eleven of the Texan's former teammates testified against him in USADA report

Armstrong has stepped down as chairman of the Livestrong Foundation

Lance Armstrong bestrode the sport of cycling like a colossus between 1999 and 2005. His feat of winning seven consecutive titles at the Tour de France -- arguably the world's toughest sporting event -- was like the demigod Hercules completing his "Twelve Labors."

Armstrong's achievements seemed all the more extraordinary given his against-the-odds recovery after being diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1996.

His best-selling autobiography "It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life" in 2000 helped give birth to the Armstrong legend, as it recounted his fight for life against a disease that had spread to his lungs, abdomen and brain before he underwent radical treatment and went on to win his first Tour in 1999.

This was a sporting story that gave hope to millions across the world.

The Texan's battle with cancer led him to set up the Livestrong foundation in 1997, which according to its website has raised close to $500 million in the battle against the disease -- thanks in no small part to the charity's iconic yellow wristbands.

Armstrong is expected to face up to the extraordinary body of evidence the United States Anti-Doping Agency put together before releasing more than 1,000 pages of evidence in October 2012.

A positive test for a banned substance during his first Tour de France win in 1999 was explained away by a prescription for a cream to treat saddle sores, but the doubts and rumors surrounding Armstrong refused to go away.

The 2004 book "L.A. Confidential: The Secrets of Lance Armstrong" by journalists David Walsh and Pierre Ballester alleged the use of performance-enhancing substances.

A key witness for Walsh and Ballester, and then the USADA, was Emma O'Reilly -- formerly a masseuse/personal assistant to Armstrong and his cycling team, U.S. Postal Service.

She told the agency she engaged in clandestine trips to pick up and drop off what she assumed were doping products, and said she was in the room when Armstrong and two other team officials came up with a plan to backdate a prescription for corticosteroids for a saddle sore to explain a positive steroid test result during the 1999 Tour de France.

"Now, Emma, you know enough to bring me down," she says Armstrong told her after the meeting.

"The quote has got a bit dramatized," she said. "History has shown that I didn't have enough to bring him down, and I never wanted to bring him down. Never, ever wanted to bring Lance down."

Doping was commonplace in cycling in the '90s, O'Reilly said, as integral to the sport as the bikes that bore riders up and down the challenging French hillsides. She said she tried to distance herself from doping activities but felt some pressure to co-operate.

She said she first came across doping by U.S. Postal in 1998, when she said a man gave her a package that he described as testosterone for team cyclist George Hincapie. The man, whose name is redacted from the affidavit, warned her not to travel to the United States with it, O'Reilly said.

Hincapie acknowledged using banned substances in his affidavit to the USADA and in a statement released the same day.

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That same year, she says, Armstrong gave her a small plastic-wrapped package after a race in the Netherlands and asked her to dispose of it. O'Reilly said Armstrong told her it "contained some things he was uneasy traveling with and had not wanted to throw away at the team hotel."

O'Reilly also recounted buying makeup for Armstrong to conceal what she said he described as bruise from a syringe injection during a race.

While O'Reilly said she never saw Armstrong use banned substances -- though she felt sure that he did -- Tyler Hamilton had a different story, saying "the first time I ever blood-doped was with Lance" and that his teammate was well aware and involved with everything that happened.

The publication of "L.A. Confidential" led to a raft of lawsuits. Armstrong sued British newspaper The Sunday Times, which published an article referencing the book, before eventually reaching an out-of-court settlement.

The Sunday Times is now suing Armstrong for $1.5 million it claims he "got by fraud" using "Britain's draconian libel laws against us."

The paper also took out an advert in the Chicago Tribune listing 10 questions that Oprah should ask Armstrong. It was signed by its chief sports writer Walsh, who was named UK journalist of the year for his 13-year investigation into Armstrong's activities.

Cycling's governing body the UCI could seek to reclaim the millions he secured in prize money during his halcyon years, while reports have suggested Armstrong -- who was dropped by major sponsors such as Nike and Oakley -- may agree to pay back some of the sponsorship funding that his U.S. Postal team received.

Over time, a host of riders who had raced alongside Armstrong with the team between 1998 and 2004 began to cast doubt on his unparalleled achievements.

In 2010 Floyd Landis, a disgraced former rider who was stripped of the 2006 Tour de France title for doping offenses, claimed he and Armstrong had both taken prohibited substances while teammates at U.S. Postal Service.

Landis launched legal action against Armstrong in the form of a whistleblower suit, claiming he had defrauded the U.S. government by accepting money from the Postal Service.

Armstrong remained staunch in his denial of doping allegations, but former colleagues such as Hamilton continued to make claims of wrongdoing.

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The American, who has since been stripped of the gold medal he won at the 2004 Olympic Games, admitted to doping while also pointing the finger at Armstrong.

The drip of allegations refused to go away, until it become a flood with the report released by the USADA.

It accused him of being part of "the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen." The report included evidence from 26 people -- 11 of whom were Armstrong's former teammates.